Where Deion Sanders goes from here at QB for Colorado Buffaloes

Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes will go back to the drawing board to figure out who will be the signal-caller for the foreseeable future this season.

The controversy we're seeing play out right now started in the offseason. Sanders opted to take Liberty transfer Kadion Salter and five-star Julian Lewis with him to Big 12 Media Days in Dallas. His decision was based on not knowing who the starter would be.

Come Week 1, Salter gets the start, which left many in the media confused given the weight put on Lewis as a 17-year old phenom. It was the right decision given Salter was a two-year starter prior to arriving at Colorado and was entering his final year.

When he didn't look polished against Georgia Tech, everyone called for a change. This is when Sanders said Lewis was going to play against Delaware. He did. But it went as expected for an inexperienced freshman getting thrown into the line of fire mid-game.

The third-stringer Ryan Staub stepped in and saved the day for Coach Prime with a 31-7 win and was given the start over Houston. The Buffs' offense saw some success in the second quarter, scoring 14 points behind Staub using his legs to scramble for positive rushing yards and a Simeon Rice rushing touchdown.  

However, the lack of execution will be the topic of conversation this week because of their inability to move the ball down the field. Colorado had three terrible quarters at Houston.  

The total offense for the Buffs at the end of the first quarter was 45 yards, (42 passing and 3 rushing).  The Cougars' defensive tackle Carlos Allen played on the Buffs' side of the offensive line, maintained his gap assignments, and led the team with 7 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 1 pass breakup. Staub was able to generate some positive gains on offense when Allen was out of the game due to an injury.  

In the third quarter, the Buffs ran a total of 5 offensive plays, gaining no yards. CU's defense tried to keep the team in the game with their bend-don’t-break mindset in the third quarter. But Colorado's nonexistent offense watched their defense allow the Cougars to score 10 unanswered points, increasing the lead to 12 points. Houston went on to win by a 36-20 margin. Conner Weigman completed 15-of-24 passes for 222 yards and rushed the ball 17 times for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

This isn't all on the Buffs offense, but it goes both ways. However, starting the game with several three and out, it kept CU's defense on the field. At the end of the day, there are many questions that need to be asked.

If Staub was "that guy," why was he not named the starter at the beginning of the season? The truth is Sanders and his staff didn't know what to do. Taking two QBs to media day was unheard of in the past. Also, you have one bad game in a close loss and Salter is put in the back seat? He's the most experienced passer on the roster. There was a reason he transferred to be in Boulder and it wasn't to play musical QB.

Also, Lewis needs development. He reclassified to the 2025 recruiting class and isn't ready no matter how hard those around him are calling for the starting nod to happen. Take him under a wing and mold him like you did Shedeur Sanders.

Let's be real about the play calling as well. Pat Shurmur's outdated bubble screens aren't phasing anyone. There is a Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator in Byron Leftwich, who is on Colorado's staff and not calling plays? Over Shurmur who had a few failed tries in the NFL. It's time to hand this over to Leftwich.

We've seen what Shurmur can do and it's not impressive. The reason it worked with Shedeur was due to the offense being catered to his skillset. But now is the time to break free from all of that. Nobody is going to play for Coach Prime like his son and that's okay. This is where real coaching and development needs to be applied.

The Buffs have a lot of work to do to get themselves prepared for a strong push in the Big 12 this season. It's clear the next move is to give Salter back the starting duties with better resources.